Caffeine: Friend or Foe?

Overview

Objectives/Goals The goal was to study caffeine's effects on the memory, reflexes, and agility. Additionally, I tested a control group with a placebo (decaffeinated coffee) to see if the belief of ingesting caffeine would still boost memory proficiency, improve physical, mental, and reflex agility. My hypothesis was that people would have greater concentration and alertness when they consumed caffeine or believed they were consuming caffeine. Methods/Materials The procedure I used was to test subjectsâ## physical, mental, and reflex agility before and after consuming caffeine. Testing 4 subjects each using regular coffee, black tea, and decaffeinated tea; the experimental constants were 1) a test measuring clear sweeps within 60 seconds of jumping rope; 2) playing the classic â#oFruit Ninjaâ## computer game to determine the maximum points in one game play; and 3) reading and writing from memory a paragraph (each with 3 sentences containing 46 words). The control is the subjects tested before and after caffeine ingestion. I measured the dependent variable by calculating the difference between the subjectâ##s scores before and after consuming caffeine. Results The results show that when given coffee: 100% improved with Fruit Ninja, 50% with jump rope, and 100% in memorization skills. When given tea, 75% improved on all tests. When given decaffeinated coffee (believing it is caffeinated): 100% improved with Fruit Ninja and memorization while only 25% improved with jump rope. These results demonstrate that physical, mental, and reflex agility improves even when people only believe they are consuming caffeine. Caffeine and even the belief that a subject is ingesting caffeine does impact the brain! Conclusions/Discussion I found that the subjects that were tested showed measurable results in physical, mental, and reflex agility. This confirmed my hypothesis that caffeine has an effect on the subjectsâ## abilities based on caffeineâ##s interaction with the neurotransmitters which cause the release of stress producing hormones in the body. It should be noted that the amounts of caffeine given to the subjects were limited so only the positive aspects of caffeine intake were observed. Not observed was the effect of large amounts of caffeine, consistent with the ways that coffee and other caffeine containing items can be abused and create such negative effects as extreme nervousness, racing heartbeat, and increased blood pressure.

Competition history

• CSEF 2014 Pharmacology/ Toxicology · Entry S1701

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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